‘Hard-Earned’ Stable Military Ties Should Be ‘Cherished,’ China’s Defense Minister Tells U.S. Counterpart

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The current stabilization of bilateral military relations is "hard-earned" and "should be cherished," Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun tells his U.S. counterpart on May 31, 2024. Photo: VCG

The current stabilization of bilateral military relations is “hard-earned” and should be “cherished,” Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun told his U.S. counterpart Friday.

Communication between the two countries’ militaries should aim to enhance understanding, eliminate misunderstandings and build mutual trust, and neither side should pass the buck or smear and suppress the other, Dong said at his meeting with Lloyd Austin during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

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Chinese and U.S. defense ministers met to promote military relations stability and avoid misunderstandings.
Discussions covered Taiwan, South China Sea, Ukraine, and Israel-Palestine conflict, with both sides emphasizing the importance of communication.
This is their first face-to-face dialogue since November 2022, aiming to implement the consensus from the Xi-Biden summit in San Francisco.

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What Happened When

November 2022：: The last substantial face-to-face dialogue between the defense chiefs of China and the US before June 1, 2024.

2022 and early 2023：: Bilateral military relations worsened after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan and the Pentagon shot down an unmanned Chinese aircraft seen floating over the U.S.

November 2023：: President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to resume high-level military communications during a summit in San Francisco.